Book Review: The Bull by Erica Crockett

Anyone who knows me, probably knows I’m a fan of anything Ms. Crockett pens. Her complex characters are a joy to follow and her apocalyptic sense of adventure is enthralling. Her third outing was equally satisfying.

Cycle 2 of The Blood Zodiac series begins with a chilling and intriguing line: “She can’t get the blood out of her blond wig.” If you want to know how the blood got there, you need to immediately start reading The Ram. If you know how the blood got there, you should be pleased to learn that The Bull begins where The Ram ended.

There is no rest for Peach. Her mission continues; she is driven even further (literally and figuratively) from her seemingly humble life. And there is perhaps too much rest for Riley; being idle seems to attract more problems for him. Gravity continues to pull the orbits of Peach and Riley closer together. Their lives must certainly intersect. But when? And, even better, why?

Some of my favorite lines:

  • “Logic and fear should partner in this moment, act to push him toward the exit of this unknown home and away from his dastardly doings.”
  • “A familiar and welcome friend arrives. Anger.”
  • “You’ve had some low points recently, but after you lost your toes, these past few weeks have been epically strange.”
  • “The finger in the air begs all other people in the room to shut up and pause so that thinking can smoothly and succinctly remedy the situation.”
  • “Riley is determined to figure out why distant stars are sending him strange cards in the mail.”
  • “Riley tosses the card back on the table, as if it could burn him or possess him or stab him.”
  • “Her eyes water and she convinces herself it’s because of the stark power of the light and not because she knows Lars is good and nice and will still have to die.”
  • “He considers calling Walker but he’s sure his friend would just make more demands about seeing the police or doing something logical.”

Bottom line: If you like thrillers, or anti-heroes, or psychological suspense, you should be reading The Blood Zodiac. After just two books, the series is already an intricate web of characters and stories. It is hard to imagine that this adventure is just beginning. I hear from a good source that book three is on its way, so you better get started.

Follow Erica on twitter, check out her website, and buy her books on Amazon. And if you haven’t read Chemicals (Erica’s first novel) yet, you need to fix that.

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